Religion and the Sovereign State

Religion was modified countless times in order to serve the will of the authorities and keep the people from overthrowing the state of things. Throughout the years it has proven to be the ultimate tool of manipulation of the masses. In Medieval times, no one would even dare think of rebelling against the social order, as the kings claimed that their tyranny over their people was the will of God; they were supposedly entitled to the so-called “divine right to rule”. Opposing the King was synonymous with disrespecting the will of God, something that no religious man would attempt. It’s no wonder they made religion the sole means of defining their universe. It’s no small number of people either that had to be executed for the sake of establishing a Judeo-Christian based, totalitarian state of things. Women burned at the stake, accused of being witches, as men feared their power and sexuality and desired to subdue them in order to preserve patriarchy. Scientists, including some of the most brilliant minds – like Galileo, had the same fate, for trying to prove that the earth is not the centre of God’s universe as it was believed and that the earth actually orbits around the sun instead of vice versa.

Moreover, if you take a look at the Bible in Victorian times you will find a variety of interpretations and versions of it. For instance there were different adaptions of it for every social class and gender, as to preserve through the means of religious indoctrination their social structure and make sure that the poor stay poor and the women oppressed. There are infinite examples really, if one desires to look into it, conclusion being that there is no such thing as independent religion; it always changes to incorporate the socio-political transformations and morals of the era in question. If you take a look at Christianity as perceived today, you will be presented with a very different perspective of it than the one that was wide-spread in other eras. Still, it’s the same religion; it never changed its name, only its values. Similarly authority is omnipresent throughout history, it merely changes masks, yesterday’s was dictatorship, now it’s democracy and who knows what the future has in store for us.